A little umpiring luck and a lot of grit lifted Australian Bernard Tomic into the second week of the Australian Open with an epic five-set win over Ukrainian Alexandr Dolgopolov at Melbourne Park.
In a match of high quality and tension, 19-year-old Tomic sank the 13th seed 4-6 7-6 (7-0) 7-6 (8-6) 2-6 6-3 in three hours and 49 minutes.
One of only two Australians left in the singles draw, Tomic will now take on Roger Federer in the fourth round on Sunday.
But after Dolgopolov squared the match at two sets all, Tomic benefitted greatly from an umpiring call in the opening game of the fifth set, in which he clearly appeared to challenge a call mid-point.
His raised racquet and eyebrow went unnoticed, he won the point and the game, leaving Dolgopolov fuming and playing catch-up for the rest of the set.
